Wiring problems of the 2006 Toyota 4Runner

1/21/17 approx noon I was driving when I began smelling burning wires. I looked around, the back-hatch and cargo area was filling with smoke. I pulled over and opened the back-hatch door and the two right passenger doors. I began opening the hood when a loud explosion occurred. It sounded like the impact of a traffic accident. I ran to the back of the vehicle. The back-hatch window had exploded. Broken glass was everywhere in the street and inside the vehicle. If anyone had been inside the vehicle or standing behind it when this occurred the would have been seriously injured. 1/23/17 I was contacted by south coast Toyota. Toyota's technician observed burned wiring and electrical motor in the rear hatch door electrical system. Approximately 1900 for repairs to replace eco, motor and glass. I asked for and received the contact info for Toyota corporate office.

Toyota case #1409022048 this is part of a message sent totoyota. My daughter experienced a burning smell inside her car on her way home from work. Within 15 minutes of noting the smell, her rear window exploded forcing her to pull over and call us for assistance. When we arrived we started the car and did not experience any of the burning smell she noted so we drove the car directly to Toyota of huntington beach for service. The service writer discovered that the rear defroster wiring had shorted out which was believed to have overheated the rear window causing the explosion. We authorized repairs accordingly and confirmed we wanted to be certain the electrical system was in good order. We subsequently were informed by the service writer that the defroster system and window had been repaired and checked out to be functional, with the system automatically turning off within 15 minutes; however, it was left to our option to leave the system disconnected. On questioning why, the writer advised that he, nor the service manager and the head mechanic had any experience with this sort of malfunction though it was their recommendation to leave it disconnected. We agreed in the interest of safety. We have since discovered on various web based blogs that other customers have experienced precisely the same problem. Links were submitted to Toyota. As discussed with your corporate representative, the cost of the repairs were an unwelcome surprise, however, the overwhelming concern is wondering if we have placed our daughter in a car, that may have inherent design problems rendering it unsafe for her travels to work, school, and vacations.

After noticing ongoing problems with my fuel gauge on a 2006 4runner with less than 60k miles, we brought the car into the Toyota dealer. When the Toyota mechanic pulled the fuel pump assembly out of the gas tank, he discovered a burned and melted wiring harness that sits directly inside the tank. This is a significant safety concern that should be addressed as it deals with an unregulated amount of heat and electricity in close proximity to the gas tank. The mechanic wrote down on my statement that he, "found fuel pump wiring has heat damage from [electrical] arcing. " I have taken pictures and will send them if requested. Thank you.

Our 2006 Toyota 4runner with a v8 engine has lost accelerator response on two occasions in the first year we have owned it. The check engine, vsc and trac lights all came on and the vehicle would not respond to accelerator inputs. The first occurrence was July 2006 when the vehicle had approximately 3800 miles on it. The throttle control module was changed and the problem seemed to be fixed until it happened again in February 2007 when the vehicle had approximately 9800 miles. The vehicle was in the shop from February until August 2007. Toyota replaced the throttle control module again, then the accelerator pedal and the engine control computer, all of which did not fix the vehicle. They finally replaced the entire wire harness in August 2007 which has the vehicle working again. We have asked Toyota to re-purchase the vehicle from us because we are concerned about the safety and reliability of this vehicle. If this loss of power were to happen again while on the highway it could cause a serious accident! Toyota has refused to re-purchase or replace the vehicle. Please look into this problem so that other Toyota 4 runner owners and future owners are aware of this potential safety problem with these vehicles.